The city of Albany is again looking to fill the key position of police chief.

THE STAKES:

Whether an internal promotion or an outsider, the new chief must build on the progress of his or her recent predecessors.

---

Albany needs a new police chief, as it has twice before in the past three years. Once again, it's crucial that the person chosen to run the 350-member department builds on the enlightened policies that have made the force a model for others to follow.

Acting Chief Robert Sears' decision not to seek the permanent position and instead to retire from the force is disappointing. For the past 18 months he has demonstrated the same professionalism and leadership qualities that distinguished his two immediate predecessors, Brendan Cox and Steven Krokoff. All three had moved up through the department's ranks.

Acting Chief Sears, who grew up in the city but is raising his family in the neighboring town of Bethlehem, decided not to seek a waiver from the City Charter's residency requirement for department heads, a rule that Mayor Kathy Sheehan defends. She said it's important the person running the police department be a stakeholder in Albany by living there.

Mayor Sheehan is vowing to cast a wide net in search of a suitable successor. If the next chief is not an internal departmental promotion, it would buck the trend. That person would be only the second of the past 27 chiefs to come from outside the department.

Naming someone already in house makes a lot of sense — the person takes over with an intimate understanding of the department and the city. Yet bringing in new blood offers other advantages. The new chief would start out fresh, without any baggage, forging new relationships with fellow officers and the community. The right choice could both affirm all the good that's been going on in the Albany Police Department in recent years, including its successful community policing program, while bringing new insights and experience that could enhance the department.

Whoever takes over, it's essential that Albany continue its involvement in with Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD. Albany was the third city in the nation to adopt LEAD, which has proven effective in reducing low-level arrests, racial disparities and recidivism.

Mayor Sheehan has given the search process a good launch by naming a nine-person advisory committee to interview and evaluate several candidates and recommend finalists.

One committee member, Alice Green, has much to contribute to the process. The longtime community activist who heads the Center for Law and Justice serves on the department's LEAD policy committee. In a previous search, which did not directly involve community members, Ms. Green articulated the challenge facing her and fellow committee member with suggestions that the person put in charge of police be knowledgeable about community policing, dedicated to transparency and be someone who understood his or her own biases.

In other words, the next Albany police chief should be a lot like former chiefs Steven Krokoff and Brendan Cox and Acting Chief Robert Sears.